“The Journey of Going Blind” 2nd Saturday Opening Reception
“I am creating a series of artwork that brings the viewer along with me on my personal process of going blind. It is an accumulation of works painted during different stages of my blindness as well as the invested emotion about trying to relearn to paint. This is a mixed media collection of works on canvas, pressed board and paper.
“This is an intimate insight about my journey into blindness is a vulnerable truth I am happy to have the honor of sharing with the viewer with this series. I hope it will create a space for conversation, opportunities to expand accessibility and advocacy, and a moment to reflect that there is as much beauty in the journey as there is in the reflections seen or unseen.” —Julia Monson
Redding Artist Julia Monson has created a series of artwork that brings the viewer on a journey of her personal process of going blind. It is an accumulation of works painted during different stages of her blindness as well as the invested emotion about trying to relearn to paint. Her exhibit is a mixed media collection of works on canvas, pressed board and paper, and can be viewed in our Main Gallery through April 1.
Julia Monson was born in San Jose in 1977 and grew up in the beautiful areas of far northern California where she was lovingly influenced and instructed by her artistic grandmothers. She began with studies of nature, experimented with many different mediums; then branched into figurative and colorist art forms. A continued education in art was completed at Shasta College.
For Julia, life is now about asking hard questions and facing the true lack of accessibility to create, experience, or even be allowed to do art. Her ordeal has inspired her to find ways she could not only paint and sculpt herself, but to find ways to teach art to anyone that had a desire to express themselves. It has drawn her into the field of advocacy and the desire to begin teaching.
